(Click here to listen to God's love letter to you)
Max Lucado Daily:
A Great Race to Run
God wants to use you my friend, but how can He if you’re exhausted?
The other day when I was getting ready for my run, the sun was out, but the wind was chilly. Jacket or sweatshirt? The Boy Scout within me prevailed and I wore both. Got my cell phone, my water bottle. So no one would steal my car, I pocketed my keys. I looked more like a pack mule than a runner! Within half a mile, I was pealing off the jacket.
That kind of weight will slow you down. What’s true in jogging is true in faith. God has a great race for you to run. But you have to drop some stuff. How can you lift someone else’s load if your arms are full with your own?
For the sake of those you love, travel light. For the sake of the God you serve, travel light. For the sake of your own joy, travel light!
From Traveling Light
Micah 7
Israel’s Misery
7 What misery is mine!
I am like one who gathers summer fruit
at the gleaning of the vineyard;
there is no cluster of grapes to eat,
none of the early figs that I crave.
2 The faithful have been swept from the land;
not one upright person remains.
Everyone lies in wait to shed blood;
they hunt each other with nets.
3 Both hands are skilled in doing evil;
the ruler demands gifts,
the judge accepts bribes,
the powerful dictate what they desire—
they all conspire together.
4 The best of them is like a brier,
the most upright worse than a thorn hedge.
The day God visits you has come,
the day your watchmen sound the alarm.
Now is the time of your confusion.
5 Do not trust a neighbor;
put no confidence in a friend.
Even with the woman who lies in your embrace
guard the words of your lips.
6 For a son dishonors his father,
a daughter rises up against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
a man’s enemies are the members of his own household.
7 But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord,
I wait for God my Savior;
my God will hear me.
Israel Will Rise
8 Do not gloat over me, my enemy!
Though I have fallen, I will rise.
Though I sit in darkness,
the Lord will be my light.
9 Because I have sinned against him,
I will bear the Lord’s wrath,
until he pleads my case
and upholds my cause.
He will bring me out into the light;
I will see his righteousness.
10 Then my enemy will see it
and will be covered with shame,
she who said to me,
“Where is the Lord your God?”
My eyes will see her downfall;
even now she will be trampled underfoot
like mire in the streets.
11 The day for building your walls will come,
the day for extending your boundaries.
12 In that day people will come to you
from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
even from Egypt to the Euphrates
and from sea to sea
and from mountain to mountain.
13 The earth will become desolate because of its inhabitants,
as the result of their deeds.
Prayer and Praise
14 Shepherd your people with your staff,
the flock of your inheritance,
which lives by itself in a forest,
in fertile pasturelands.[h]
Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead
as in days long ago.
15 “As in the days when you came out of Egypt,
I will show them my wonders.”
16 Nations will see and be ashamed,
deprived of all their power.
They will put their hands over their mouths
and their ears will become deaf.
17 They will lick dust like a snake,
like creatures that crawl on the ground.
They will come trembling out of their dens;
they will turn in fear to the Lord our God
and will be afraid of you.
18 Who is a God like you,
who pardons sin and forgives the transgression
of the remnant of his inheritance?
You do not stay angry forever
but delight to show mercy.
19 You will again have compassion on us;
you will tread our sins underfoot
and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
20 You will be faithful to Jacob,
and show love to Abraham,
as you pledged on oath to our ancestors
in days long ago.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Philippians 1:12-18; 3:8-11
Paul’s Chains Advance the Gospel
12 Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters,[a] that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. 13 As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard[b] and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. 14 And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.
15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16 The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. 18 But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.
Yes, and I will continue to rejoice,
Philippians 3:8-11
New International Version (NIV)
8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in[a] Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
Pressing On
June 4, 2013 — by David C. McCasland
That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings. —Philippians 3:10
At a Christian men’s conference, I talked with a longtime friend who has encouraged and mentored me for many years. With him were two young men from China, new in their faith and deeply grateful for this man’s faithful friendship and spiritual help. My friend Clyde, nearing 80 years of age, glowed with enthusiasm as he said, “I’ve never been more excited about knowing and loving Christ than I am today.”
Paul’s letter to the Philippians reveals a heart and purpose that never diminished with time: “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death” (Phil. 3:10). From the root of Paul’s relationship with Jesus came the fruit of his undiminished fervor that others be guided to faith in Him. He rejoiced to share the gospel and was encouraged that others became bolder because of him (1:12-14).
If our goal is merely service for the Lord, we may burn out somewhere along the line. But if our purpose, like Paul’s and Clyde’s and many others, is to know Christ and love Him, we’ll find that He will give us the strength to make Him known to others. Let us joyfully press on in the strength God gives!
Father God, I want to know You in all Your fullness and
to love You completely. I believe that relationship
with You is the basis for my service for You.
Help me not to serve out of my own strength.
Learn from Christ then make Him known.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
June 4, 2013
The Never-forsaking God
He Himself has said, ’I will never leave you nor forsake you’ —Hebrews 13:5
What line of thinking do my thoughts take? Do I turn to what God says or to my own fears? Am I simply repeating what God says, or am I learning to truly hear Him and then to respond after I have heard what He says? “For He Himself has said, ’I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ’The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’ ” (Hebrews 13:5-6).
“I will never leave you . . .”— not for any reason; not my sin, selfishness, stubbornness, nor waywardness. Have I really let God say to me that He will never leave me? If I have not truly heard this assurance of God, then let me listen again.
“I will never . . . forsake you.” Sometimes it is not the difficulty of life but the drudgery of it that makes me think God will forsake me. When there is no major difficulty to overcome, no vision from God, nothing wonderful or beautiful— just the everyday activities of life— do I hear God’s assurance even in these?
We have the idea that God is going to do some exceptional thing— that He is preparing and equipping us for some extraordinary work in the future. But as we grow in His grace we find that God is glorifying Himself here and now, at this very moment. If we have God’s assurance behind us, the most amazing strength becomes ours, and we learn to sing, glorifying Him even in the ordinary days and ways of life.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Training Your Eyes - #6887
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
I think my son was about four the first time we played baseball together, and I taught him with a plastic Wiffle bat and Wiffle ball. I remember telling him rule number one of baseball even then, and really of other sports too. I said, "Now, son, keep your eye on the ball." Well, I've told him that lots of times over his growing up years, and it wasn't always about baseball. Whenever he's had trouble with his hitting, though, which today really isn't very often, it usually was because he wasn't watching where he should be.
Now, of course, now he's a grown man with a family of his own. We recently went outside with a ball and bat. He threw and I attempted to hit the ball. You can probably guess what's coming. I wasn't connecting. So he gave me a little advice, "Hey, Dad, keep your eye on the ball!" The tables have turned.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Training Your Eyes."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew 6:22-23. Jesus is talking about the importance of our eyes in following Him and what we should be keeping our eyes on and off of. It's a lesson in how not to strike out spiritually. Listen to His words: "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness."
Now, Jesus here is not talking about your need for an optometrist or getting stronger glasses. He's talking about the fact that your eyes are the point of entry for everything you think about, and what you think about is what turns out to be the beginning point of the actions you commit. So your eyes gather input that is sent to your brain and stored there, and then as the Bible says, "As a man thinks in his heart so is he." But it all begins at eye level.
Do you remember what Jesus had just said in the previous chapter, Matthew 5:28? He said, "I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." There are the eyes again. The place you have to stop sexual sin is at eye level. It's like baseball. If your eye is on the right thing, you'll be okay. If your eye is looking at the wrong thing, you're going to fail. No Christians have ever had to live with the bombardment of sexual images that we get daily. Nobody's ever had the media we have, and we get so much we're almost numb to it.
See, a fundamental discipline of a Jesus follower has to be training your eyes. It's a firm resolve that you just won't look at what is suggested. When a billboard appears with a provocative picture, you just commit yourself to instantly look the other way; you don't even consider what you'll do. When a magazine ad, or a TV channel, an Internet website; maybe you're jumping around and you're looking at all kinds of channels or websites and suddenly there's this sexually attractive image in front of you. You could linger. But no, you can't afford to do that. You move on quickly.
Training your eyes is as practical as simply not allowing your eyes to wander beyond the face of the opposite sex or just turning away. There's a powerful temptation isn't there to linger, to fanaticize, to kind of work it over in your mind, to let your eyes sin? You say, "Well, I didn't do anything." And yet the Bible says that if it's gotten to your eyes, then through them you are full of darkness. That's what Jesus taught us.
Every time you linger on a sexually tempting image, you send ammunition to your enemy; ammunition you can be guaranteed he will use to defeat you spiritually. So you've got to avoid spiritual strike outs, and that begins with training your eyes.
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